


And They Were Roommates!

by junjunkii



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Explicit Sexual Content, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, M/M, Trans Axel (Kingdom Hearts), Trans Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Underage Drinking, thats right this shit is AUTHENTIC, trans mlm author
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-21
Updated: 2019-03-28
Packaged: 2019-09-24 00:23:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17090567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/junjunkii/pseuds/junjunkii
Summary: Oh my god, they were roommates.Riku is your average art school sophomore- always covered in paint, addicted to caffeine, and definitely not straight. Sora is a bright and bubbly work of art- there is always something to admire about him, and Riku is absolutely 100% not allowed to get close. But one day, Riku’s roommate moves out of their dorm…...and none other than Mr. Sunshine himself moves right on in.Thus begins an adventure full of friendship, romance, and figuring out life in the midst of the coffee-fueled chaos that is college.





	1. Star-Cheeks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi, I'm a gay arts major, and welcome to jackass!

“Hot apple cider whipped cream!”

“Mocha blend no whip two percent!”

“Raspberry iced tea twelve ounce!”

It all blended together after a while. Riku scooped up his coffee and nodded to the barista, already hurrying out the door of the campus coffee shop. Just another morning of rushing to get his caffeine fix before his eight am. Why on earth he decided to take a class that early was frankly beyond him; the bags under his eyes were probably going to become sentient soon and beat him over the head for such poor decision making.

Riku nursed the piping hot drink in his cold palms and took a sip. It was gross as hell, and he ignored it. Coffee gave him the energy he needed to get through what felt like forty-seven art projects a day. A necessary evil. That was what he told himself, anyway.

“I see you’re already on the drug.”

Riku glared at Axel, the heavily tattooed third-year with hair so violently red and rigid it looked like a cherry cough syrup factory had collapsed and died in it. “It’s not a _drug._ ” He made his way through the sleepy lecture hall, flopping into a nearby seat.

“Caffeine is a legal drug, actually,” Axel drawled, pulling a lollipop out of his mouth to point it at Riku. “And you, my dear, grumpy friend, are addicted.”

“I am _not_ ,” Riku grouched. He took a sip. It was still completely disgusting.

Axel observed him, highly amused at the embittered expression on his face. “If you say so.”

Okay, so maybe Axel had a point, but Riku would never admit it to that asshole.

“You seen any single cuties lately?” Axel asked, abruptly changing subject.

“Like I’d tell you.”

“You’re so _mean!”_ Axel whined, biting down on his candy. It was crushed to bits between his sharp teeth. “Aren’t we supposed to be each other’s wingmen?”

Riku raised his eyebrows, downing a huge mouthful of hot caffeinated nastiness. “Since when?”

“Since now,” Axel pouted.

“Good luck getting a date when you look like every emo band in the world mashed into a single person.”

“I do not!”

“Yeah you do. You even have fangs. What’s up with that?”

Axel slumped in his seat and kicked his legs up over the back of the chair in front of him, self-consciously poking his bottom lip. It was, of course, pierced. Twice. “My incisors are naturally pointy…”

“Well, I’m sure you’ll find _someone_ who’s into that. Not that you’d ever be brave enough to use them on anyone.”

Axel elbowed him roughly. “You should start putting sugar in that shit, maybe you’ll sweeten up.”

“Not likely.”

Axel just snorted a laugh and pulled another lollipop from his jeans pocket. He chewed obnoxiously on it throughout the entire lecture.

 

 

As dependent as Riku was on the campus coffee shop to get through the morning, it was rare he needed to visit twice in one day. Yet that afternoon saw him doing just that. Bio lab was a bitch to get through. Three straight hours on his feet experimenting on some plant tissue he already couldn’t remember the name of and he was about ready to keel over dead, taking whoever thought art majors should need a science lab to graduate down with him. Riku rattled off his usual order at the counter, not even looking up as he dug cash out to pay. But when his slid those bills across and glanced at the person taking his order-

His heart skipped a beat.

Behind the counter was probably most attractive guy he’d ever seen in his life, with messy brown hair, ocean-sky eyes, and freckles heavily dusted across his rosy cheeks like constellations of _cute._

If this man was single, there was no way in _hell_ Riku was telling Axel about him.

Star-Cheeks blinked at him nonplussed, face awkwardly frozen in that customer service smile, and Riku realized he’d been staring. Embarrassed, he ducked his head again and brusquely snatched up his change, shuffling to the end of the counter to wait for his drink.

He burned his throat on it immediately.

 

 

“You have a _crush!_ ” Axel crowed, because of course Riku couldn’t have kept it to himself for just one day, _just one day Riku! God!_

“I do not,” Riku grumbled half-heartedly. Axel wasn’t even close to wrong, but he wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of admitting it. “I just have… a deep... aesthetic appreciation.”

“You think he’s cute.” Axel opened the mini-fridge and peered inside. “You got any beer?”

“You’re literally looking in the only place I would ever store beer,” Riku deadpanned. “And yeah, fine, he’s really cute.”

“You wanna kiss him?”

“No!” Riku actually blushed. What was _wrong_ with him? He never blushed! “Okay- maybe- but I’d want to get to know him first, and that’s not going to happen. I don’t even know his name.”

“Ask him then, you dumbass.” Axel had found some string cheese and was eating it maddeningly slowly while sitting on top of the mini fridge. Riku was beginning to understand why this man only ever had one-night stands. “What can it hurt to introduce yourself, say he’s cute, and that you wanna talk outside of his workplace sometime?”

Riku groaned and flopped backwards onto his bed. It creaked despondently. “It’s not that simple and you know it.”

“Do I?” Axel asked lightly. “I think you’re the one making things too complicated. You overthink everything. I say just go for it, and if it doesn’t work, maybe you’ll finally have a reason to try and fix your coffee addiction since you’ll be too ashamed to show up at the shop again.”

“Gee, thanks, that’s really encouraging,” Riku said flatly. But Axel had a point- maybe he really was working himself up over nothing at all. Maybe it didn’t have to be such a big deal. Star-Cheeks was worth a try, wasn’t he?

The door to the dorm room creaked opened, and Riku’s roommate slunk in, glaring preemptively at Axel before the spitfire could even say anything. “I see you’re still letting... _people_ in while I’m gone.”

“Sorry you didn’t get to burst in on us having hot, passionate sex.” Axel rolled his eyes and tipped his head back to dangle string cheese directly into his mouth. Riku wasn’t even phased by the statement, as his roommate had made it very clear _far_ too many times that he was deathly afraid of walking in on that. Nevermind the fact that the thought of having sex with Axel made Riku want to surgically remove his entire soul.

“This is my place too, you know,” Riku replied, pretending to inspect his nails. “It’s not like we’re shooting our veins full of tar heroin in here.”

“Yeah, we’re just shooting each other’s holes full of cum like all the gays do when left to their own devices,” Axel supplied helpfully. Riku wanted to throw his stapler at him. Riku’s roommate just squinted at Axel, collected some things off his desk, and hurried back out, closing the door none too quietly behind himself. “God, what a _bitch!_ ”

“I really hope he moves out soon.” Riku dragged his hands over his face. “I left a brochure about living off-campus on his desk, do you think he’ll take the hint at some point?”

Axel gagged a little on some string cheese, turning too quickly to grin at him. “Did you really do that?”

Riku nodded, a small smile quirking up the corners of his own lips.

Axel laughed, stuffing the rest of the cheese in his mouth and hopping down from the fridge to stretch his long legs. “You get more bold every day, Riku, you know? Maybe you should use some of that extra boldness and ask out Cutie Patootie Barista Boy tomorrow.”

Riku choked. “ _Tomorrow_?”

Axel rolled his eyes again, cracking his knuckles out of habit. “Or whenever, scaredy-pants.”

“Really? ‘Scaredy-pants?’ Are you seven?”

“Can you just take seriously _one thing I say, Riku-_ ”

As the two fell back into familiar friendly bickering, Riku’s mind drifted a bit, thinking of every possible outcome should he actually ask Star-Cheeks out the next day. He decided that no, tomorrow was too soon. He should wait a while, make small talk, build up a better impression on him than the first one. Then, when he had comfortably built up a tiny relationship with the guy, he’d ask about talking away from his workplace. That was good, respectful, not imposing or pressuring… right? Wasn’t it? Or was that totally creepy? No, that wasn’t creepy at all, that was totally normal, that was what a normal person would do, _Riku was normal wasn’t he?_

...god, Axel was right. He overthought everything.

 

 

The next day, Riku fixed up his hair in the mirror before he left the dorm for his morning coffee. He never did that. He wondered how bad of a bird’s nest he’d been sporting when he first saw Star-Cheeks. He still had paint in it from three days ago, what the hell?

The day after, Riku flossed both times he brushed his teeth instead of neither time like he usually did. His smile had to look nice, after all. Even if he never smiled with teeth.

Day in and day out Riku found himself doing little things to tidy himself up, make himself look more presentable- but the problem was that he wasn’t presenting himself. At all. Every time Star-Cheeks looked at him, his tongue glued itself to the roof of his mouth and every single brain cell involved in speech collectively went on immediate and irreversible vacation. All he could do was nod shyly, pass and collect money, and scurry away again. _Pathetic._ He couldn’t even get the guy’s real name, because he never wore his badge, so Star-Cheeks he remained.

This, however, was a problem solved in a very sudden way about two weeks later.

Riku’s roommate, under vague claims of “discomfort with dorm life,” packed up every last one of his belongings one Friday and ghosted out. Riku came back from a long day of classes to a completely barren side of the room, devoid of all evidence of anyone but him having lived there. Even the trash can had been emptied. Riku accepted it without a second thought, feeling nothing but relief.

But the next day, all thoughts of relief went straight out the window, down the street to the storm drain, and right into the sewers.

A loud rapping on the door woke Riku up at what felt like the ass crack of dawn (but in reality was about eleven-thirty am). He stumbled up, pajama pants sagging low on his hips and light stubble scratching his cheeks, opening the door to blink confusedly at what unearthly being of energy could knock that damn loud on his door this early on a Saturday.

_Oh. Holy shit._

“Hi! I’m Sora, your new roommate. Pleased to meet- oh, don’t I know you?”

Riku stared. Opened his mouth. Closed it. Broke into a sweat. Prayed to a god he didn’t believe in. Died and came back to life in a single heartbeat. Mentally stabbed Axel for the raucous laughter he knew was going to ring in his ears for days once he heard about this.

“Uh,” he managed intelligently, wrenching himself back to reality. “Yeah, I think so. I'm Riku. Make yourself at home.”

Star-Cheeks-  _Sora_ \- flashed him a brilliant smile. “Thanks, Riku!”

Oh, he was _so_ not going to survive this.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> soriku gives me life, one kudos = one smooch riku will give sora in khiii i speak this into existence
> 
> twitter is @junjunkiii for more crying over our disney x square enix love children
> 
> and of course, ty for reading! >:3c I'm excited to continue writing this


	2. Old Scars

Living with Sora really wasn’t so bad. One thing that comes with being roommates with someone is finding out how wholly, _pitifully_ human they are. Sora needed to be reminded to do his turn of vacuuming, and he absentmindedly took his socks off and left them laying around the dorm room whenever he got hot. One evening he came home so exhausted from an exam that he fell, facedown, into Riku’s bed and snored there all night because Riku didn’t have the resolve to wake him and move him to his own bed. He slept over at Axel’s apartment instead.

Sora liked the colour blue, cherished his grey tabby cat plush, and hummed to himself all the time. He woke up early to work at the coffee shop, and often came home late at night after being out with his friends. Riku was still painfully shy around him, but Sora took to him like a honeybee to a field of flowers. Sora seemed to take to everyone, really.

The one event that Riku had been dreading had to happen, though.

Axel met Sora.

 

“So you’re the cutie!”

Riku punched Axel in the shoulder as hard as he could. Axel yelped and staggered to the side, nearly running into someone. The three of them were walking to some bingo event that Sora’s friends were going to meet them at in the hopes of winning free food. Axel had his Hot Tamale-coloured hair in a man bun and was wearing a choker and spike ear plugs. Riku thought he looked like a walking Hot Topic but had successfully kept that to himself so far.

Sora, meanwhile, was just laughing, looking comfortable in a blue turtleneck. Riku nervously played with the drawstrings of his paint-splattered hoodie. Everything he owned was covered in paint or ink; he had given up on looking presentable in front of Sora on about day three.

He wished he was playing with Sora’s pretty hair instead.

“Are all your friends such jokesters, Riku?” Sora was asking, and Riku started, shaken from his thoughts.

“Uh- I guess you could say that,” Riku mumbled. Most of his friends were either addicted to alcohol, sex, or Bob Ross episodes. Sometimes all three. Like Axel. “What are your friends like?”

Sora grinned brightly, humming as he walked. “My friends are great! They’re really nice, you’ll like them! They like _the cuties_ too.”  
Riku choked on his own spit, starting a raucous coughing fit that had his ears turning bright pink. Axel broke into loud, ugly laughter, only bringing more attention to the situation. Sora repeatedly slammed his hand onto Riku’s back like an entire olive had lodged itself in his esophagus and not just a smidgen of drool. Riku thought maybe dying at that moment would be a kindness to himself.

Eventually, Riku regained access to his lungs, Axel stopped being an ass, and the three of them made it to bingo.

“Sora!” a chorus of bright voices greeted them as they walked into the open room. Sora excitedly dragged Riku and Axel to a table where three girls and another guy were already sitting.

“These are my friends!” He grinned wide and proudly swept his hand out, presenting the small group. “This is Kairi, we’ve known each other since we were like ten-” a redhead, like Axel but natural, with a pleasant smile and a mischievous twinkle in her eye- “Naminé, you might know her, she’s a studio art major-” an ice-blonde with even icier eyes, waving shyly- “Xion, she’s so cool! She plays violin _and_ guitar _and_ piano _and_ drums-” a tiny laughing girl, jet-black hair and decked out completely in rock band merch- “and then this is Roxas! He’s Xion’s brother and he never gets drunk, _ever,_ we’ve tried really hard-” a wiry blonde boy who rolled his eyes at Sora, picking at his gold nail polish. Altogether, one of the more interesting ensemble of people Riku had ever been introduced to.

Sora took his seat across from them and smiled up at Riku, patting the chair next to him. Riku very quickly took it. He looked to his other side, expecting to see Axel- but that gay dumbass had planted himself right next to Roxas and was already talking to him. Roxas didn’t seem particularly impressed. He kept looking at Axel’s roots like he was trying to figure out his natural hair colour, because obviously, “fire truck tripping on acid” wasn’t it.

“You must be Riku!” Kairi was saying. Riku quickly turned to face her and nod. “We’ve heard all about you!”

He reddened. “Have you?”

Kairi grinned and sing-songed, “We have~!”  
“Kairi!” Sora hissed. He seemed flustered. “Hush!”

Riku raised an eyebrow at him. “Why, what’d you tell them?”

Xion snorted a laugh and hastily covered her mouth, giggling behind her hand. “Oh, we heard all about the time he crashed in your bed on accident and you just let him. He was so embarrassed when he woke up!” Naminé joined in the giggling; Xion’s laugh was contagious.

“I told you it was okay,” Riku huffed at Sora, who had leaned to rest facedown on the table, right on his bingo card.

“It’s still embarrassing!” he whined, muffled.

“Oh get up, Sora, you bum.” Kairi shoved at his shoulders until he reluctantly sat up, shooting a sheepish look to Riku. Riku gave him a shy smile. He wasn’t used to so much… camaraderie in a group. Usually when he hung out with Axel’s friends they sat around listening to loud music and giving each other bad stick-and-poke tattoos. He liked Sora’s friends so far.

Axel and Roxas were deep in conversation about the maintenance of body piercings, somehow. Bit of a weird topic for someone you just met. But they seemed absorbed, Axel especially so when Roxas stuck his tongue out to show a piercing there, so Riku decided he could get to know Roxas some other time.

Kairi led the conversation for most of the evening, asking about Riku’s major, how he was liking college, what he got at the coffee shop, his hobbies, everything about him. He learned Kairi was double majoring in biology and computer science and silently wondered how she was still alive, or, at the very least, how on earth she had time to play bingo. Naminé was a freshman, so she was mostly in the same classes Riku had taken the year before, and he gave her some tips about professors and class choices that she drank up eagerly. Xion was, somewhat obviously, a music major. She passed Riku a very grungy-looking business card where he could find and purchase her original songs. She was very insistent about it.

Sora seemed happy to listen to Riku and his friends get along, chiming in every now and then with stories about them, and places he wanted to take Riku to along with the group. He graciously invited Axel too, but he was absolutely smitten by Roxas and wasn’t paying much attention. Riku was fine with that, honestly. Less opportunity for Axel to butt in with embarrassing stories about him.

Naminé ended up winning four bingos while the rest of them got absolutely nothing. She tried to pass out some of the food she’d won to the group, but Kairi rather aggressively stopped her and made her keep it all. She and Xion waddled awkwardly back to their dorm laden with groceries.

Kairi escorted Riku and Sora to their own dorm, chatting happily the whole way and delightedly swapping phone numbers. Axel and Roxas had disappeared, probably back to Axel’s place for some… “fun.” If Riku got another oversharing text in the morning about the hot night his friend had had, he was going to strangle him.

 

Oddly, in the morning, there was nothing. No texts, no calls, and (thank god) no pictures. Sora was sleeping soundly in his own bed, one foot hanging off the mattress. His socks were blue with pink polka dots. His arm was curled around his stuffed cat, smooshing his face into its worn, soft fur. It was the cutest thing Riku had ever seen.

He shot off a quick text to Axel, just to make sure he hadn’t died or something, and fell back asleep.

 

Sora woke him up at one in the afternoon, concerned and offering a granola bar, which Riku gratefully wolfed down. Groggily, he gathered some things and waddled down the hall to the showers to wake himself up. Sora tagged after him, hair an adorable mess as always. “You sure sleep late, Riku!”

“Always have,” Riku mumbled, scratching at his stubble. He really hated his facial hair, but luckily it didn’t grow that fast, so it wasn’t like he had to shave every day.

“Have you ever grown a beard?” Sora asked curiously, noticing the movement.

“Hell no,” Riku nearly laughed. “I wish I didn’t grow any of this at all.”  
“I think it’s very handsome,” Sora informed him. “It makes you look… rugged.”   
Riku snorted. “Not exactly what I’m going for, but thank you.”   
Sora just hummed contently and followed him in comfortable silence. Whenever the sun was out, Sora was happy. Riku thought it was no surprise, with how much the sun loved Sora’s skin, leaving kisses of stellar freckles wherever it touched. He wanted to paint them, wanted to paint _on_ them, map out constellations across his rosy star-cheeks.

But... they weren’t even really friends yet. That kind of intimacy was wholly out of reach, as far and as unknown as the cosmos itself.

Riku kept his mouth shut.

 

After a further uneventful day, Axel _finally_ showed up when Riku was eating dinner, accompanied by Sora and Kairi. He collapsed into the booth next to Riku, who immediately punched him in the arm. “Where’ve you been! Did you break your phone or something?”

Axel’s eyes looked wild. “Dude, I’ve been talking to Roxas all night. And _all day_.”

Sora and Kairi looked curious, while Riku was surprised. “What, you two didn’t fuck?”

Sora very delicately choked on a hunk of meatball.

“No, man, he just wanted to talk! And talk and talk and talk _and talk-_ ”   
“Okay, I get it.” Riku surreptitiously pushed a spare napkin across the table to a spluttering Sora. “But really, this is new for you. You finally learned how to make friends?”   
Axel shot him a sour look. “Shut up. But no, really, I think…” he trailed off, uncertain. Fidgeted with his messy ponytail. “I think I really like this guy.”

“YOU DO?” Sora sprayed spaghetti sauce all over the table. Kairi recoiled so fast her head bashed against the wall. Riku’s reflexes did not serve him as well. Axel groaned and hid his face in his hands as every table in their vicinity turned to stare directly at them.

“Sorry, sorry, oh my god-” Sora hastily wadded up every single one of his napkins and stretched across the table to dab away flecks of tomato scattered across Riku’s face and chest. Riku blushed brilliantly and brusquely snatched them away, doing it himself.

Kairi was wincing and rubbing the back of her head, but still rested on her elbow to lean towards Axel. “Well, I’ll tell you what, Axel, it isn’t the easiest thing to get Roxas to warm up to you.”

Axel absently rubbed his cheek. “Yeah, I’ve picked up on that. It’s just- I don’t know, we go back to my place, I expect another one-and-done deal, and then... he surprised me. I don’t get that from a lot of dates. At the very least, I find him really interesting.”  
Kairi smiled softly. “I’m glad he’s branching out.”

Sora had settled back in his own seat, ruddy napkins bunched like some sort of horribly shitty romantic decor between himself and Riku. He glanced at Kairi, then to Riku, then back to Axel. “If things end up happening between you two, promise you’ll take care of him?” he asked, uncharacteristically serious.

Axel blinked, a bit taken aback. “Well, I’m not really the best-”

Riku nudged him with his elbow.

Axel bit his lip, looked between them, and sighed. “Promise.”

Sora grinned widely. But something about it seemed pained, and it didn’t escape Riku. Sora ran his fingers along the side of the table. Back and forth, back and forth. Dancing on the edge of something hidden beneath the surface of that smile, something Riku hadn’t uncovered yet, and it piqued his curiosity. But he kept quiet, kept to himself.

Best to not open old scars.

Something twinged painfully in response to the thought.

Without thinking, he rested a hand protectively over his stomach, curling inward. Axel caught the movement out of the corner of his eye, and gently touched Riku’s wrist. Riku started, shook him off. Sora was watching them, a soft look in his eyes. Riku couldn’t bear it. He quickly excused himself, thanked Riku and Kairi for the company, and rushed out of the cafeteria and back to his dorm, where he buried himself under his covers and stayed there.

Sora came back later, and didn’t bother him. But when it was time for lights-out, he gently padded over and slipped the stuffed cat under the blankets, then sat tentatively on the edge of Riku’s bed. “Hey?”

Riku cautiously peeked out. His mouth was dry. “Mm?”

“Are you okay?”

“Fine,” Riku rasped.

Sora stared at the wall for a little while, worrying his shirt between his fingertips. Riku couldn’t see much of him in the gloom of night. “We’re friends, right, Riku?”

Riku ran his fingers over the plush fabric of the cat. The face was flat from being hugged so much, and its once pink velvet nose was now nothing but threads. He crushed it to his chest, curling around it. “I’d love to be your friend, Sora,” he murmured. Something in him felt small and hurt. An old scar of his own. It beat in tandem with his heart.

“Then we’re friends,” Sora decided. Quiet, determined. “And Chirithy is your friend too!”

“Chirithy?” Riku’s voice was muffled from smashing his face into the stuffed animal. It smelled like fruits from a street market visited in childhood, a faded memory.

“The cat!” Sora laughed. “You can sleep with them tonight. As, uh, repayment for letting me sleep in your bed that one time.” He sheepishly ran a hand through his hair.

Riku snorted softly, letting his fingers play with Chirithy’s small ears. The weight of Sora at the edge of his bed, the quiet darkness, the comfort of the cat, it all washed over Riku and soothed the tiny, hurting part of himself. “Thank you.”

“Anytime.” Sora looked at him like he wanted to say more, but got up instead and went to his own bed. Silence fell across the two, and soon, Sora’s deep breathing filled the room. But Riku lay awake.

He wasn’t sure how to feel. Of course, he was happy that Axel had finally found interest in someone that wasn’t- as far as he knew- into using his friend as a quick fuck then moving on. But, as selfish as it was, he was worried that Axel was going to leave him behind and find a new best friend in this Roxas guy. How could he beat someone so interesting to Axel that they had spent an entire night and day talking? He and Axel never did anything like that. Should they? Their friendship never relied on things like that in the first place, though… but if Roxas was truly going to replace Riku, who would he talk to about Sora? Or anything else in his life?

_You overthink everything._

Riku mentally hit himself over the head. It was ridiculous to assume any of that would happen. He and Axel were best friends, and the bonds they’d formed from the things they’d gone through together wouldn’t ever break so easily. Spiraling because of a stray thought about old scars, how stupid…

The pain behind Sora’s smile, the look he gave at Axel’s soft touch, and the tiny ache in his stomach troubled Riku until Sora’s quiet snores lured him to sleep.


	3. Dropped Distance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [reclining gracefully in a place i should not logically be able to access, sipping fruit punch from a champagne flute] hallo hallo, welcome to hurt/comfort hours

Riku was surrounded by light. It seeped into his pores, made his skin glow an unearthly gold. He screwed up his eyes, waiting for them to adjust. When he blinked the spots away, he found Sora standing by his side.

For some reason, this didn’t startle him. Everything felt slow, peaceful. He reached out and took Sora’s hand, the soft skin of his palm warm against his own. “Without a doubt,” Sora was saying, but it echoed wrong, bounced off of things that weren’t there, and crowded out the rest of his words. “-light.”

“Light. Light. Light. Light,” the empty space threw back, cavernous.

“I know you,” Riku said to him, and it didn’t echo as much. “Have I always known you?”

Sora blinked up at him, slowly. His freckles were alight, fiery constellations that burned into Riku’s eyes, but he didn’t look away. “You have,” he answered softly, and the sound curled around his ears like smoke.

Riku gripped his hand tighter. “When do I take the first step? When do I wake up?”

Everything seemed to be darkening, a shadow forming behind them and stretching like pitch black molasses through the light. The sun- a star- a moon- _something_ was setting. Sora wasn’t answering, and Riku’s chest was tightening. “Sora, when do I wake up?” he repeated more frantically, tugging at the younger man.

Sora was beginning to dissolve in place. Riku panicked, swiping at him, but his hand went right through. The cacophony of shattering glass started to fill the space beneath their feet. “You wake up when-”

 

Riku swung upright in bed, unceremoniously stumbled to the trash can, and vomited.

 

“You’re _sick?!_ ” Axel wailed, right in Riku’s ear.

Riku winced, holding his phone at a greater distance from his aching head. “That’s what I said.”

“Huh? I can barely hear you.”

Riku rolled his eyes, gingerly bringing the phone back. “Threw up this morning,” he sighed. “Had a really weird dream about Sora too… probably fever-induced.”

“Let me talk to him,” Axel demanded.

“Who?” Riku grunted intelligently.

“The love of your life. Your sun and stars and moon. Your dick’s greatest desire. _Sora_ , you sick dumbass. Let me talk to him.”

Riku just grunted again and rolled over in his bed.

“What, is he out right now?”

“Yeah, he’s got classes, unlike some idiot who loves to skip.”

“Oh come on, Riku, you _know_ attendance doesn’t count for-”

“I know,” Riku grumbled. His stomach roiled, and he inhaled a little too sharply at the immediate sickening swoop.

Axel, for once, took a minute to pause. “Are you gonna be okay?” he asked softly. Too soft. The embarrassment of being pitied coloured Riku’s already-flushed cheeks.

“M’fine,” he mumbled. He wasn’t.

“Well, if Sora’s not there, then I’m coming over,” Axel announced, and Riku’s relief that he was at least going to be able to spend time with his best friend killed the stubborn urge to refuse help and tough things out on his own.

 

“Wow, you look like shit,” Axel observed immediately upon sight of Riku.

“Thanks,” Riku said dryly. He waddled back to bed and collapsed into it, grabbing for Chirithy to crush his face into. His hair was a mess, stubble peppered his jaw, and he probably didn’t smell so good, despite Sora graciously leaving out a lavender air freshener before he left that morning.

“Have you eaten yet?” The rustle of a plastic bag and clinking of cans indicated that Axel had brought soup.

Riku’s stomach clenched and he swallowed down a trail of vomit that had shot its way up his esophagus, grimacing at the burn and disgusting aftertaste. “No.” Chirithy’s fur muffled his voice.

Axel hummed absently, popping open the pull-tab tin can. “Well, you probably should.”

“Don’t want to.” The clinking of a bowl, one of Axel’s nice ones. The gentle pouring of tomato soup. The smell of it. Home. Something pricked at Riku’s eyes.

Axel set the bowl in the microwave in the corner of the room as quietly as he could, setting it to heat up. As it buzzed, he sat at the edge of Riku’s bed and ran a hand through his hair, gazing down at his feverish friend, and noticed the tears soaking the soft gray fabric of the stuffed cat. “Oh,” he said softly. He laid down next to him, gently shaking his shoulder. “Come here, Riku.”

Riku turned and buried his face in Axel’s chest, crying silently. He’d perfected it over the years. Almost couldn’t remember how to cry any other way.

“I wish- I w-want-” Riku sobbed hoarsely, clawing for words. They wouldn’t come.

“I know,” Axel murmured anyway, hugging him tight. “I know.” Axel wasn’t binding- his chest rose in two soft swells beneath his baggy sweatshirt, and the gesture of being allowed so close to something that was usually so fiercely guarded made Riku’s stomach and heart clench painfully, gratefully, achingly.

The microwave beeped some time later, but they ignored it.

 

Axel had to go by lunchtime, insisting that all the soup he had brought was for Riku. He’d gotten his friend to finally eat, reluctant sips at first that had turned to ravenous gulps, two full bowls worth. Belly full and warm and aching heart soothed by tears, Riku drifted off into a blissfully dreamless sleep. When he woke again, his mouth was drier than it had ever been, but his stomach seemed to have settled for the day, so he slurped down another bowl of soup and decided to pull up his laptop and numb his mind with games for a few hours.

Sora came home that evening laden with reusable cloth bags that filled the air with a familiar scent. Riku perked up from where he was hunched over an MMO like a gremlin, wrinkling his nose. “That’s some strong tea you’ve got there.”

Sora grinned, exaggeratedly flexing his arms and bouncing the bags on them. “Yeah, but I’m _stronger_.”

Riku couldn’t help but bark out a laugh. Sora was absolutely adorable, no matter what he was doing. Sora flushed, smiling sheepishly and bustling to put the tea on the shelves above his bed. Riku slid out of his own bed, stretching his arms above his head and yawning widely.

“Oh yes! How are you feeling?” Sora asked, turning to catch his gaze.

Riku scratched his cheek. The stubble stung his fingers. “A little gross, but I don’t think I’ll be throwing up again, so overall good.”

“That _is_ good!” Sora said, almost delightedly. Riku was a little nonplussed with how happy he was about that. “But, just in case, I brought bread and bananas and crackers, and of course all this really nice tea, so you can have any of it whenever you’d like!” He was practically beaming.

Riku blinked. It was like looking at the sun. “That’s- that’s really nice of you.” A little blush crept up the back of his neck, and he hid it with a rubbing hand. “Why _are_ you being so nice?” he blurted. Damn. Couldn’t quite hide that one.

Sora looked surprised. “You’re my friend! And you’re sick, and I’m here anyway, so I want to take care of you.” A blush splotching his own cheeks, he looked away. “I- I always like taking care of my friends.”

Riku reddened even more at the words. Fantasies of domestic bliss, being cared for by Sora and caring for him in return, flooded his stupid gay brain. He coughed and crawled back to his games, embarrassedly realizing Chirithy was laying in full view on his pillow. He stuffed it in his lap.

Sora awkwardly went back to arranging his things, ears like roses. As he was shoving his bags back under his bed, Riku finally piped up with a shy “thank you.” Without turning to look at him, Sora smiled. “Anytime, Riku.”

 

The shower Riku took the next morning was scalding hot and the best thing he’d felt in a while. It left his skin sensitive and warm, washing away the stale sickness and overnight grime. Looping his hair back into a messy, damp bun, he set off feeling much better than he had the day before.

Something that the shower hadn’t touched, though, was his heart, and a good cleanse couldn’t explain the little part of him that sang every time he saw Sora’s messy brown hair or cheerful smile. It had sung ever since he saw Sora for the first time, Riku supposed, but it had gotten louder lately. It was a little frightening, a little exciting, not exactly new but not familiar either. It was nice, simply put. A lovely little feeling that made his insides all soft.

“Wow, Riku, you look so handsome with your hair up!” Sora exclaimed at the coffee shop that morning. Riku spluttered and shoved some change across the counter, heart fluttering like a trapped hummingbird.

“Not so _loud_ , jeez, Sora.”

“But you do!” Sora punched his order into the computer, a chocolatey mess of a drink. “You sell the artist look really well.”

That sparked something. If Riku was more like Axel, he’d have been preening. “You think so?”

“Yup!” Sora handed back more change, because Riku had distractedly gotten it completely wrong. He leaned on the counter and grinned impishly up at him. “You’re just a sexy guy, Riku!”

Riku inhaled sharply and burst into a brilliant crimson. Sora snorted and started laughing at him, quickly covering his mouth with his hand as his eyes crinkled up. It was unbearably cute, but unfortunately Riku was too busy dying to fully appreciate it. _You’re just a sexy guy, Riku_ . He was _definitely_ dead. He was dead and in gay heaven and he was never coming back.

Someone coughed in the line behind him. Mortified, Riku shuffled out of the way to let a very tall and very irritated looking man with long pink hair order a double shot espresso. Recognizing who it was and seeing a way to deflect his embarrassment, Riku sidled back up to him and elbowed him roughly in the side. “Ow, what the fuck- oh, it’s just you. I didn’t recognize you with your hair up like that.”

“Hey, Marly.”

“Isn’t he handsome, Marly!” Sora piped up. Riku wanted to melt through the floor. So much for deflecting.

“Quite,” the man raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow, glancing at the freckled barista. “And it’s Lauriam. Who’s this?” he asked, looking back down quizzically at Riku. A hint of a smirk quirked his glossed lips. “Boyfriend?”

“Roommate,” Riku groaned, refusing to look at Sora. He shoved at Lauriam, who didn’t budge an inch. “Why do you always have to assume that?”

Lauriam shrugged, smirk growing wider. “It’s fun to tease you.”

“You’re the fucking worst.”

“You decided to talk to me, that’s on you.”

“Can’t I just ask how a friend’s doing?”

“Using your _elbow?_ ”

Sora watched them, eyes darting back and forth like they were a walking tennis match, utterly enchanted and apparently unbothered by the boyfriend comment. Riku didn’t know what to make of that. The barista at the end of the counter called both of their drinks, and Lauriam swept in front of him to pettily get there first, pretending to not do it on purpose but obviously glancing back at Riku to watch for a reaction. Riku forced down a snippy remark and gave him nothing. He seemed disappointed.

“Oh- hey, Riku!”

Riku turned to face the voice, mildly surprised- “Xion?”

“That’s the one!” she grinned behind the counter, pumping shots into drinks without looking, which would have made Riku nervous had she not been doing it with the practiced ease of a barista who had long since committed each drink to muscle memory. Bright pink nail polish glistened on her fingertips. It seemed uncharacteristic- almost more of a Kairi thing?- but Riku didn’t comment on it.

“I didn’t know you worked here,” he said, flippantly waving Lauriam goodbye as he breezed out the door. He snootily didn’t wave back. Riku didn’t even care at this point in their… “friendship.” That was just how he was.

“Yeah, usually work afternoons- raspberry italian ice!- but had to switch some schedule stuff around so I’m here in the mornings now. Haven’t seen you much, how’ve things been?”

They chatted pleasantly for a while, Riku relaying his sickness and a particular art project that had him stumped- he needed a seminude model, but couldn’t decide who to ask. Xion cracked jokes and talked excitedly about her new rock band, with her as guitarist, Roxas as singer, and two other music major’s he’d never met- Ventus? Vanitas? Apparently, Ventus was Roxas’ identical twin brother. Riku rather amusedly wondered if Axel was aware of that. Sora chimed in here and there with little snippets about the two, glimmers of facts that Riku couldn’t quite put together into any comprehensive picture. They seemed dangerously fun, from the bits and pieces he gathered.

Riku left the coffee shop feeling a little brighter, and with a spring in his step. He hadn’t realized how badly he’d missed having a friend _group._  Of course he had Axel, always had and always would after everything, but Axel was just one friend. Maybe he was starting to realize why Axel loved to spend so much time with Roxas lately, and the thought eased the little burning fear or replacement in his heart.

He was really no different, himself. They were both just branching out.

 

“I heard you’ve been looking for a model!” Sora piped up at dinner that night, having accompanied Riku. It was just the two of them, tucked away in a booth in the back and chowing down on fried chicken.

“Yegh,” Riku managed around a mouthful. Atrocious. He swallowed hastily. “Yeah. They have to be seminude though, it’s for life drawing. I have to study musculature and posture and… whatever. Basically the model is only supposed to be wearing underwear at the _most._ It’s the activity in class I missed yesterday, so I have to do it on my own.”

“Have you asked anyone yet?” Sora was much better at talking with his mouth full. It wasn’t attractive at all, but it was a little impressive. “What about that Lauriam guy? He looked like a model.”

“I think he’d kill me if I asked him that,” Riku snorted. “He’s way too protective of his body. I think he’s the only one of Axel’s buddies that doesn’t have a tattoo.”

“Hmmm, I see.” Sora seemed to be thinking extremely hard. Now _that_ was cute. “What about Axel?”

Riku tensed a little. “Axel has other reasons, it’s not my place to say.”

“Oh, I understand!”

Riku relaxed. Sora really did just accept things as they came, excitedly asking questions about the things he was allowed to, and leaving things as they were when he wasn’t. The conversation moved on, and Riku thought Sora had forgotten about the whole thing.

Until they got back to their room.

“Oh! Um. Hey, Riku.”

“Hmm?” Riku was fiddling with his keys, trying to sort through to the right one. He couldn’t see Sora’s expression at all.

“If you- if you really can’t find a model-”

Riku froze. Was he-

“I could do it for you!”

Riku was decidedly  _not_ surviving being roommates with Sora so far.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to be perfectly clear because I thought of this while editing- this reason why Riku is so vehemently against the idea of sexy times with Axel is absolutely NOT bc he's trans, Riku just ain't attracted to the dude no matter what he's got goin on. As a trans guy myself, I just thought I should make sure there's no doubt about that!
> 
> ANYWAY, SORRY FOR THE VERY LONG WAIT, college is a fuck and that's my excuse. I cranked this out in one day jdfgJDKG so!! Please drop a kudos if you haven't already and/or lmk what you think of this so far in the comments? I'm super excited to keep expanding out to more of the organization characters and to introduce ventus and vanitas, that's gonna be fun.
> 
> And, of course, writing the modeling chapter is gonna be ;3c (drawing from models irl is not sexy at all but I, of course, am going to be completely ignoring that fact and hamming it up because what the hell else am I really here for)
> 
> you can find me on twitter @junjunkiii with art @sodaberryart !!


	4. Dreamers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS WHERE THINGS START GETTIN SPICY OKAY  
> IF YOU'RE BABY, VACATE THE PREMISES NOW.

Riku was torn.

One on hand, asking his roommate, who he had a  _ crush on _ , to undress for him so he could study his body in minute detail seemed horribly embarrassing, if not downright taboo. On the other hand,  _ his crush was willing to undress for him so he could study his body in minute detail. _

“What’s the big deal?” Axel laughed, because of course Riku had gone straight to him the very next day. The two were lounging in Axel’s apartment, shivering a little in the oncoming chill of late fall. The on-campus complex had poor heating, unsurprisingly. “He volunteered, it’s not like you’re forcing him or anything. You didn’t even ask him!”

“I  _ know _ ,” Riku groaned, slumping on the well-worn couch. His hair was in a messy bun, only becoming messier as it was dragged down the fake leather. “What I don’t know is if he’s just doing it to be polite-”

“So what if he is?” Axel interrupted. He popped open a can of cheap beer and took a swig. Alcohol wasn’t allowed on campus. He had gone three years not caring about that and wasn’t about to stop soon. Riku didn’t exactly approve, but at least Axel kept to himself when he was drunk and didn’t cause trouble. “I have no idea why you’re having so much trouble with this. You’re the one making it all weird and complicated.” He offered another can to Riku, who staunchly refused.

A knock on the door interrupted them. Axel confusedly opened it, face a blank slate- which immediately lit up as soon as he saw who was there. “Roxas!”

Riku slumped down further, pouting a little childishly. He wanted alone time to talk about Sora, damn it. Now one of Sora’s friends was here.

Roxas trudged in with tired feet, and Riku noticed heavy bags under his eyes. Roxas blinked a little owlishly at him. “Oh- am I interrupting something?” Feeling a little bad at the state of him, Riku shook his head and straightened up again. “Oh thank god, I need somewhere to crash.” He threw himself down next to Riku and looked up at him through drooping lashes. “My roommates suck,” he said shortly.

Riku nodded sagely. He knew how that went.

Axel tossed Roxas a can of beer, and he greedily popped the tab and started chugging it. “Woah-” Riku started, a little shocked.

“I don’t really get drunk,” Roxas said between hefty gulps. “Despite how hard I try.” His expression was bitter, and Riku decided to just let it go. He did remember Sora mentioning that about him. “Damn. Gotta piss now.” He stumbled unsteadily to the bathroom and shut the door behind himself a bit too hard.

“He’s the one, huh?” Riku glanced sidelong at Axel as soon as Roxas was out of earshot.

Axel chewed absentmindedly at his lip. “He puts up with a lot more than he lets on, I think. He doesn’t let me know much more about the shit going down in his life than what he told you just now.” He took a long drink and rested a hand on his hip. “But I.. I do want to care for him. Wanna help him with his hurt and… all that.” He made a face and took a much faster gulp. “Ugh, I sound like a romantic.”

“Well, we all knew deep,  _ deep  _ down you had a smidgeon of romance in you,” Riku teased. Axel shot him an unamused look. “I’m glad he brings it out.”

Axel looked at him for a while, thinking hard about something. In the end, all he gave was a soft “Yeah. Me too.”

Roxas returned from the bathroom, making a very slow beeline to Axel and slumping on him. “‘M tired,” he mumbled. His voice was rough. “Can I sleep in your bed tonight? Things are better when you’re there.”   
Axel looked rapidly between Riku and Roxas, face suddenly unreadable.

Roxas’ eyes widened a little, and he looked at Riku too. “Oh- he doesn’t know-?”

Riku decided it was the perfect time to excuse himself. He didn’t really understand what was going on, but it was painfully intimate. He felt like an intruder. A sour taste spread across his tongue as he realized Axel had been hiding that relationship from him, whatever it was. He thought they told each other everything… but it was beginning to look like that wasn’t the case anymore.

Riku sighed and pushed outside, flinching at the cold wind and bunching his hoodie up to cover more of his face. Maybe he hadn’t really needed to visit Axel about the situation with Sora as his model. It was his own embarrassment holding him back, a shame stemming from the knowledge that he wouldn’t be viewing the activity in the same way as Sora. In fact, he begrudgingly realized, he’d only gone to Axel’s to avoid being around Sora in the first place.

“I’m a mess,” he muttered to himself, frustratedly kicking a piece of gravel down the curb. “And an idiot.”  _ What’s the big deal?  _ Taking a deep breath, he pulled out his phone, and tapped to find the contact Sora had insisted he make during their first few days of living together. It had a sunshine emoji in it. Riku’s breath caught a little.

_ [Hey. I haven’t been able to find a model, are you still down?] _

It wasn’t a lie, he hadn’t found another model, but he hadn’t exactly been looking for a different one in the first place.

Sora replied scarily fast.

_ [Of course! Let’s do this >:3c] _

Riku, despite himself, smiled softly as he texted back more details about the assignment. Sora promised to be ready by the time Riku got back home, and his heart skipped a beat as it hit him that it was  _ happening. Today. _

He walked home a little faster than usual, nervous and excited. He had to take a few deep breaths before unlocking the door and stepping in, to see-

Oh.

_ Oh. _

Sora lounged on a chair in the middle of the room, curtains drawn back and window cracked open to let the sun and wind swirl on his olive skin. A pink flush dusted his sharp shoulders and soft cheeks, and his sea-blue eyes were hooded, shyly. “Hey.”

Riku swallowed. Nothing went down. His mouth had dried out. “Hey.”

Sora’s arms were crossed underneath his chest, pushing his tiny breasts together beneath his tank top. He seemed self-conscious, carefully watching Riku for his reaction. All at once, Riku realized that this was Sora’s way of coming out to him, that he was probably never going to forget this moment, and that Sora was, undoubtedly, the most beautiful man he’d ever seen. He could only drink in the sight in awe.

Sora gestured to his tank top, breaking the moment of stillness. “I suppose I should take this off?”

“Y-yeah, go ahead.” Riku’s stomach was doing somersaults inside of him. He scrambled to find his pad of paper and his soft-leaded pencils, not daring to face Sora until his got his heart rate under control. His thoughts were both racing and stilling, catching on spikes of affection and dancing wildly in a field of blooming gentleness, each inhale and exhale marking a beat to which his heart sang more clearly than ever. “Um- mind if I put some music on?”

“I like piano,” Sora said, out of sight behind him. Riku could hear the soft rustle and collapse of fabric being dropped to the floor. “Wanna play Studio Ghibli stuff?”

“As you wish,” Riku said before he could stop himself. It was horribly cheesy, but somehow, he didn’t become embarrassed by it. It felt like they were the only two in the world. Maybe this was how Axel felt about Roxas. Riku found some compilation of Ghibli piano on his phone and set it carefully on his bed before climbing up into it, finally turning to face Sora.

He sat in nothing but plain black briefs, fidgeting nervously with the seat of the chair. His chest looked so soft, like each breast would fit perfectly into the palms of Riku’s hands, and his nipples were dark and rounded. He had freckles from his face to his peach-fuzzed tummy to his slender ankles.

“You’re gorgeous,” Riku whispered.

Sora turned brick red, dropping his gaze to his knees. “Thank you.”

Then they sat in silence for hours, the air filled with nothing but piano and the sound of pencil on paper. Sora posed as he pleased for Riku, becoming more and more confident as time passed. By the end, he drew his chair up close and stretched languidly, one leg resting up on Riku’s bed, foot resting by his hips and teasingly poking at his ticklish side every so often. Sora’s wicked grin preceding the pokes gave him away entirely, but Riku pretended to be surprised every time, just to hear him giggle again.

It took a lot longer than Riku was expecting, but he wanted so badly to get in every perfect freckle, every stroke of soft hair on Sora’s body. By the time he was done, he could practically feel the way Sora’s muscles would move under his hands from how intensely he’d studied them. “We’re done now,” he said quietly, voice a little rough from the hours spent not talking.

“That was fun!” Sora grinned, hopping up to retrieve his clothes. “Can I see?”

Finally, Riku became a little embarrassed, noticing fully just how much detail he’d dedicated to the drawings, but he passed them to Sora anyway.

“Woah! Riku, you’re amazing!”

Riku turned away, busying himself with cleaning his supplies. He thought his heart was going to beat out of his chest. Sora didn’t let that stop him.

“These are so good, Riku, you’re a fantastic artist! Man, I can’t stop looking at these, it’s almost uncanny, you got everything right…” He trailed off a little, carefully tracing a fingertip on his own penciled chest. “Thank you. For drawing me as I am.”

“Of course,” Riku murmured, reaching for the papers. Sora didn’t let go, and Riku ended up stepping closer instead of pulling them away. He inhaled a little sharply, held that breath. His blood was growing hot.

Sora traced his finger down, over the rigid curve of his hips, his lanky legs and big feet. He looked up at Riku.

Riku looked back down.

He wanted to kiss him.

Sora let go of the papers, swaying a little where he stood. He looked like he wanted to say something, wide and gorgeous eyes flitting around Riku’s face like he was trying to figure out where he wanted his thoughts to land. Then he turned, walked away, went to rifle through his dresser for warmer clothes.

Riku turned, walked away, went to store the drawings away as carefully as if he were handling butterflies. His stomach pulsed with them. Something was different now, but he couldn’t place what it was. Maybe it was the cool air filling the room, the music he didn’t usually listen to. Maybe it was nothing at all.

 

In stark contrast to the cryptic dream of his sickness, that night, his mind showed him  _ exactly _ what was hidden in his subconscious.

Sora was beneath him, surrounded by plush gold and white, body writhing as he bit his lip hard. Riku was sweating and shaking above him, holding down his wrists and groaning his name with every thrust into him. It wasn’t anything like real sex- dream sex was always more intense, encasing his whole body in a shivering energy he couldn’t sweat out. Or maybe, real sex had just never been like that for him, not yet.

Sora’s legs crossed over Riku’s back and he moaned, loud, a desperate cry for more. Riku ducked and mouthed along his neck, tasting tears and the faint tang of blood from where he must have bitten down earlier. Sora’s wet heat was overwhelming, lighting him on fire. The sheets smelled like starfruit and ocean. Something about it seemed familiar, but distant. Sora was sobbing, pulsing around him, drawing out a shattered gasp from Riku’s heaving lungs as he followed and buried himself deep. Thick liquid leaked out around them, dripping onto the sheets already soaked with perspiration. “I love you,” Sora was rasping out, chest shuddering. Riku was whispering it back, hands releasing Sora’s wrists to cup and knead his breasts. They  _ did  _ fit perfectly in his palms.

Sora reached weakly up to stroke Riku’s cheek, smiling, faint and exhausted. “My dreameater,” he purred affectionately. Somehow the term made sense to Riku, who growled possessively and wrapped his arms around Sora and buried his face back in his neck to kiss along it. Sora just laughed fondly and ran his fingers through Riku’s hair, breathing slowly. Riku nuzzled his jaw-

And woke up.

He blinked at the ceiling, confused. Already he was forgetting details of the dream, the scents and words drifting away into the early morning.

Then he realized the front of his underwear was soaked.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake.”

 

An early shower left Riku with more time to get ready than he knew what to do with. Guiltily, he remembered that he’d left Axel’s apartment in a bit of a disgruntled rush the other day, and shot off a short text apologizing. He wondered if Axel would explain to him what was going on between him and Roxas, or if he was just going to let Riku speculate on his own. He didn’t get a text back before he had to go to class, and Axel wasn’t in the lecture hall when he got there either.

Riku spent most of his day working rather mindlessly on projects, halfheartedly starting an essay before he realized he couldn’t bring himself to concentrate on it at all. Finally, sometime in the afternoon, Riku’s phone chimed with a text back.

[ _ sorry was dead asleep. finally confessed to roxas after you left, realized i probably shouldn’t be letting him sleep with me if he didn’t know that. long story short we fucked until like 3 am. neighbors hate us lol _ ]

Riku relaxed, not even realizing he had been tense. He felt like a weight looming behind him had been carried away, and before he realized it, he was grinning like an idiot, fingers flying over the keyboard

[ _ tmi Axel, once again. But I’m glad you worked things out, seemed tense when I left _ ]

He paused.

[ _ Are you mad at me for that? _ ]

The three little typing dots bounced on his screen for a while. Even over the phone, Axel’s concentration when thinking hard about what to say was palpable.

[ _i was a little mad at you, a little mad at roxas, and a little mad at myself, to be honest. i guess i don’t like having my best friend leave just because some guy i like is over, but it wasn’t your fault things got,,, uncomfortable. and i realize that now. so to answer your question, no, i’m not mad._ _couldn’t ever be mad for that long at you_ ]

Riku snorted.

[ _ What about that time I ate all the oreos in your house? _ ]

[ _ OKAY LISTEN HERE FUCKHEAD, _ ]

And just like that, things with Axel went back to normal.

 

Things with Sora, though, were a different story, as they usually are after you’ve seen someone nearly naked for the first time. When he talked to Riku, he blushed easier, became clumsier, and his voice went higher. Riku respectfully didn’t call any of this out, especially the last one, but when he went to bed at night, at some point or another a lazy smile would crawl onto his face and stay there as he remembered how cute Sora had been that day.

He didn’t have any more sex dreams as clear as before- they usually became soft and foggy, only the feel of Sora’s skin against his own permeating his memories of them. Usually, though, he dreamed of drawing Sora again and again and again, tracing his lips with the end of his graphite before he leaned in to kiss them himself. Dream-Sora’s lips were always soft and tasted like camomile or bergamot. 

Real-life Sora didn’t kiss him, but sometimes the way Riku would catch him staring at his mouth made him wonder if he wanted to.  _ Wishful thinking _ , he usually chided himself, but it was undeniable that Sora had never done that before, and it was hard to stop noticing it once he started.

 

One day, a few weeks after the fateful drawings, Sora bounced up to Riku as he was working at a table in the back of the coffee shop. “Hey, Riku!”

Riku smiled easily up at him, gratefully turning away from his boring chem homework. “Hey, Sora. You look happy.”

“Oh, do I?” Sora bashfully tucked some stray hair behind his ear. It was painfully endearing considering all of his hairs were astray. “I have good news! Xion and Roxas’ band is going to be performing in town this weekend!”

“That’s great!” Riku said, genuinely. He caught sight of Xion behind the counter, and she gave him a cheery wave. “I’m really proud of them all.”

Sora beamed brilliantly. “You should go with me!”

Riku laughed, leaning to elbow him. “You askin’ me on a date, Sora?” He couldn’t be.

Sora swallowed and straightened up, nervously clutching at his apron. “I- I am!”

Riku blinked.

Sora gripped the fabric so tight his knuckles turned white.

He… couldn’t be?

“Sorry, are you- are you for real?”

“Do you not want to go on a date with me-?” A dawning horror was rising on Sora’s face, and Riku was suddenly kick-started into function again, panic hammering angrily at his stupid gay brain like his mom used to hammer at his door when he wouldn’t get out of bed.

“I do!” Riku practically shouted. Most of the coffee shop turned to look at them, and they both whipped their heads to look at completely unrelated things, burning.

“Cool!” Sora squeaked. “Okay, Riku, um, I’ll talk to you later!” And he scurried away back to the counter as fast as he could.

Riku sat motionless in his chair for a while, unable to believe what had just happened.

Sora had...

He had!

_ He had just asked Riku on a date! _

He leapt up from his seat, shoving all of his things into his backpack. He was going to have to go to Axel later, of  _ course  _ he was, but the thought flooding his mind at that moment was not of triumph, or wanting to brag or giddily celebrate.

No, it was that Riku had no clue what he was supposed to wear on a date, and there was only one person he knew whose fashion sense actually  _ made  _ sense.

 

“Why the hell are you here?”

Riku gestured to himself, ripped jeans and all. “I need to know what to wear for a date to a rock concert.”

“Oh,” Lauriam sighed, opening the door wider. “You are so disastrous. Come in.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :3c


End file.
